ON  COCA    OR   FOLHA  SAGRADAJ 
323 
not  be  the  cause  of  the  medicinal  properties  of  this  wood,  and 
act  as  a  preservative  to  the  lungs  by  combining  with  oxygen 
and  yielding  carbonic  acid  and  carbonate  of  lime?  Therapeu- 
tic experiments  with  pure  oxalate  of  lime  could  best  solve  this 
question. 
The  salt  is  insoluble  in  water,  but  its  fine  particles  readily 
pass  through  the  strainer  with  the  decoction,  and  remain  sus- 
pended therein  for  some  time.  To  its  presence  must  be  ascribed 
the  sensation  of  dryness  in  the  throat,  observed  by  the  patients 
taking  this  decoction.  To  prevent  it,  the  addition  of  a  mucila- 
ginous liquid  might  be  advisable,  like  mucilage  of  gum  arable, 
some  Irish  moss  or  Iceland  moss,  deprived  of  its  bitter  principle. 
It  is  stated  that  a  false  anacahuite  has  made  its  appearance 
in  commerce ;  the  crystalline  powder  in  the  parenchymous  cells 
may  be  the  best  means  of  proving  its  genuineness. — Buchn.  N. 
Bepert.  x.  97-103.  J.  M.  M. 
ON  COCA  OR  FOLHA  SAGRADA— ERYTHROXYLON  COCA. 
Th.  Peckolt  reports  in  Archiv  der  Pharmacie,  ciii.  39-42, 
on  the  following  paper  of  Dr.  Valdez : 
Coca  is  the  leaf  of  a  shrub,  growing  to  the  height  of  not  over 
six  feet,  and  cultivated  almost  exclusively  in  Peru  and  Bolivia, 
recently  also  in  the  Brazilian  province  of  Alto  Amazonas.  At 
the  time  of  discovery  the  plant  was  used  only  by  the  Incas  and 
the  royal  family,  and  looked  upon  as  the  image  of  a  deity.  No- 
body entered  the  enclosure  or  sanctuary  where  it  was  cultivated, 
without  previously  kneeling  down  as  a  sign  of  adoration.  Sac- 
rifices were  believed  not  to  be  acceptable  unless  crowned  with  a 
twig  of  this  shrub.  Oracles  would  not  answer,  and  their  pro- 
phecies were  terrible,  if  coca  was  not  chewed  on  interrogating 
them.  The  Indian  found  consolation  with  this  divine  plant  in 
all  misfortunes  and  when  praying  for  happiness. 
Gradually  its  use  extended  to  the  whole  population,  and  it 
became  an  important  commercial  article.  Shortly  before  the  in- 
dependence from  Spain,  Peru  produced  coca  valued  at  $2,841,487 
and  the  leaves  circulated  occasionally  as  money.  The  Indians, 
in  using  them,  are  thereby  enabled  to  perform  the  hardest  min- 
ing operations  in  the  midst  of  deadly  metallic  exhalations,  with- 
